The cost of renting is still getting more expensive but the rate at which rent is increasing is slowing down, at least.

According to a report from Yardi Matrix, the rental market is seeing a rare slowdown as national average rent had the slowest year-over year-growth in 17 months during the month of December, at 3%.

That makes rent currently $1,474.

(Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix. Click to enlarge.)

Put simply, renters are now paying $43 more per month for an apartment than they did in December 2018, and $45 more compared to December 2017.

This slow down is credited to the boom the last decade saw, with over 2.4 million units being built across the nation. Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, said that the apartment industry has made great strides since the 2008 recession, and this new decade will see similar positive results.

The largest increases among the analyzed renter hubs were in Phoenix, with rent at $1,123, and Las Vegas, with rent at $1,107. In these hubs, rent soared by 9.6% and 6%, respectively, compared to December 2018.

Those on the apartment hunt last year, 59.8% to be exact, searched Google for “apartment near me. The terms “studio” and “cheap” were the second and third most-searched-for terms on the search engine site.

Most renters searched RENTcafe.com for two-bedrooms last year. The 46% who searched the term made two-bedrooms the most sought after homes. One-bedrooms were second popular, as 27% of potential renters searched for the term. Three-bedroom apartments were searched by 16%, and studios were searched by 12%.

Searching for a place to live based on career and lifestyle was also a trend in 2019. Phoenix posted the quickest growth in 2019, shooting up by 9.6% or $98, making rent $1,123. It’s also the only renter mega-hub that saw rates go up by more than 6%, the report said.

Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Austin also seemed to be the places that stand out the most to renters, as these are among the job hubs Americans are flocking to in search of a great deal and a great lifestyle, causing the rise in rental prices, the report said.

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